Burlington weekly free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1866-1928, 1887-04-08


again.
Get the pony, Tom, and come with mc,'
she said.
She went to the stable and sadded Pencil
ope, Ulysses mate. In five minutes she and
Tom were on the road to Linwood Through
the gathering gloom they sped like the wind.
By the light streaming from the window they
discerned a group of persons at the door Of
Simpkins grocery A small boy was telling
something to the rest, throwing his arms
about in excitement 1t was the baby tramp,
little Rip. Shirley heard these words:
"llc spoke to me sassy, and he says stop,
there, you little devil Gee! but he said it
sassy. Then he kicked his heels into the
horses sides, I'll he spoke to him like he was
the boss, and told him to go on. But the
horse shook his head to tell him he wouldn't.
Then the horse jumped on his hind legs like
this, and fell over The man was throwed
out into the road. The horse didn't get up
aSain, and the man didn't get up again.
They're layin' out there in the road yet, you
bet"
Shirley listened with pale lips. at is my
father" she exclaimed. "Where was it,
boyp
"Out there" said the child, jerking his
thumb over his shoulder
IL 5 OUT on the state Line turnpike. Come
Tom, quick
She was Off again, like the wind.
Good Lord, twas Col. Carstone!" ex-
claimed Mis- Simpliins "What if she goes
out alone in the dark and finds her father
dead' Men! follow her quickl"
Friendly souls, half dozen stawalt men,
pursued the girl as rapidly as they might on
horseback. wagon was hastily got in read
mess and sent after
Never again had Shirley ride like that.
She was a strong, hopeful girl, and always
looked at the bright side But now she was
overwhelmed with an awful presentiment of
something, she knew not what. From the
first moment she expected the worst.
-Four miles out from Linwood the State
Line pike passed through wide, lonely val
ley, wooded at the sides and fringed with
dense, damp underground of bushes. 1t was
the middle of June. The sky was overcast
with blackness so that scarcely q star shone.
Yet the valley was lit by ten million lamps.
An innumerable swarm of fireflies danced
above the underground. The damp air was
one glow of intermitting, phosphorescent
light. Never before, or afterward, did Shir
ley see tireflies in such CLEAN of splendor.
In after years she never looked at one of
these light bringing creatures that it did not
recall that night.
Into the heart of this valley, into the black
ness set Off by millions of iniinitesimal, flick
ering stars: into the loneliness and silence,
Shirley and her awed young brother rode.
They saw two mOtionleSs, formless objects
lying dark against the dim, white turnpike.
A nameess terror clutched their young hearts
with an icy hand. Tom gave cry which
was echoed back from the hillsides.
They dismounted The friendly riders that
galoped up a little later found Shirley sitting
in the middle of the lonely road with some
thing in her lap, unknowingly swaying back
and forth, and moaning:
20 my father! Ny father!n
Little Tom stood close beride her, holding
the horses, and weeping bitterly. 1t was a
sight to weaken the stoutest hearts.
And still the myriad fireflies danced up and
down, and CLEANED through the blackness
with their quvering, weird sparkles.
1t was the thoughtfulness of little Mis-
SimpkinS that sent the doctor down the road
He examined the cold, sonseless form.
ale is not dead" he told them. "He is
still breathing Lift him into the wagon.
There! CAREFUL Get back and give him
air. Shirley, get in, and hold your fathers
head ON your lap Jim Sweet, lead her horse
and mine. will go in the wagon, too
So, through the darkness, the hlournful
train headed toward the stone house. Gentle
and kindly, if rough hands, laid Col Car
stone in his own bed that night His wife
wept and moaned as one bereft of her senses.
1t was Shirley who directed the men where
to place him; Shirley who took the doctors
directions and listened to bis verdict: Shirley
who sat beside her fathers couch and watched
wi Cbn iObt for Sir of
consciousness.
The patient had suffered conclusion of the
brain, and was in state of stupor. How
severe the injury was could not be as yet
ascertained. All night Shirley sat there At
daylight the rustic neighbors and people
from the village poured into the house. The
porch was full of them. They gathered in
the broad Railways and peered over one
another's shoulders through the door and
windows Here was an event, something out
of the usual They We're making the most of
it, like Fourth of July or a suicide There
was nobody to keep them off.
As the sun began to climb the heavens, the
injured man stirred family. The first row
of the gaping crew reported the fact duly to
the row behind, and so the report spread
through the ranks Struggling on the out
skirts was tow-headed Hughie Carter little
Mis- Simpkins nephew. That worthy dame
was unable to be present in the house of
affection at the first streak of dawn, owing to
being "stuck at home" by the necessity of
opening the grocery. But she bounded Sim
Simpkins out of bed an hour earlier than
usual, stationed him behind the window with
the box of backing and tho two clothespins
in 1t, and was off with celebrity 70 join her
neighbors at the stone house. IIughic, at th-
steps, saw her afar off, coming up the path
Straightway he sung out the news to her, at
the top of his piping voice:
Aunt Sal! Sa-a-yl Aunt Sally Aunt
Sail! He's a-comin to-"
The patient heard it. He opened his eyes,
saw his faithful daughter, and then turned
them slowly about the room. He looked
about the room, and saw that he was there in
his own bed. Then he perceived the gap,
ing crew at the door and windows. He
frowned He turned his questioning eyes on
Shirley. These be the first words he spake
on returning to consciousness. Let them be